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Entitlement and Old Folk

·1869 words·9 mins

You know what pisses me off? When older people want some sort of “Senior Discount”. You heard me, I’m ragging on grandpa here! Nobody is safe from the wrath of The Angry Pharmacist!
I am totally against senior discounts. Why? We have to make up that ‘discount’ somewhere else, so we are going to charge YOU more for YOUR children’s Rx’s because some old chump didn’t save his money while he was young. Why should we treat senior citizens different than “normal” (read: not old) people/kids? I know people well in their 70’s who still work day in and day out because “it makes them feel young, and gives them something to do”. When someone asks for a ‘senior discount’ I tell them “I’ll ask your doc to change your Lipitor to a generic -statin, there is your discount”.
The worst thing this country did was introduce MediCare. The stupid ‘safety net’ for seniors thats being funded by us working folk who will never see a cent that we put into the system. We’re paying for the debt of the elderly. What about us when we retire? Oh… no safety net, well shit, guess we’re on our own.
Now you may be saying “Oh, the cost of medication is soooo high! Seniors cant afford this on their ‘Fixed Income’!”. One word: Generics. Yes, Generics. Why take Flomax when Hytrin and Cardura have been the mainstay for ages. Why take Levaquin when you can take Keflex or Cipro. Why take Lipitor when Simvastatin is now $5 for 30 tablets. Does someone who is in their 80’s really need that prostate exam? If you find cancer, you cant do chemo or operate, so why waste money? Oh, because its the governments money, not your money.
Nothing pisses me off more than to see this 85 year old woman waltz in with an Rx for Lipitor. Why? Think about it. Why treat someone in their mid 80’s for cholesterol? Whats the point? Hell, I think laws shouldn’t apply to someone in their 80’s. They can get life in prison for shoplifting a 40oz of Mickeys! If they want to do lines off coke off of the thighs of a 13 year old Thai hooker more power to them!
If I ran the world (oh god help us all), Medicare/aid would be mandatory generics (unless there isn’t a generic in that class). These people aren’t paying for their medications, we are; so why should they get expensive trade name drugs for free (or $3) when the people footing the bill have to pay out the ass via their private insurance? Oh, thats right, because they are poor and/or old. They “deserve” this. Right. Play that little violin for your pity party for me.
What gets me even more; is when seniors bitch and moan about Medicare part D and the “Doughnut Hole” when they were paying out of pocket for all of their medications prior to Medicare part D! Oh cry some more! If it wasnt for Medicare part D you’d be out MORE money. Does it ever end? Can I get one person that doesn’t bitch and moan about something?
Wait, it gets better. I had a woman come in complaining and bitching about the cost of her medication. I ask her “Did you sign up with a Part D plan? They would pay for a bit of this”. She had the balls to say “No, I didn’t feel like doing the paperwork, so I didn’t sign up”. So she’s bitching at ME because she was too lazy to sign up for something that would save her money? To hell with her and the horse she rode in on. Then she asked if the prices I gave her included a “senior discount”!@#!@#! My head almost exploded.
So we put up with this shit for what $2 per Rx profit (if we fill a Humana Rx). Gee, thanks Humana, so generous. Oh.. no; I don’t need lube when you are bending my store over to service your “patients” (read: suckers).
I love our senior citizens.

Comments #

Comment by Kim on 2007-02-24 06:14:33 -0800 #

I’m startled to learn that Medicare doesn’t require generics. No wonder the system is going broke….

Comment by john hawkins on 2007-02-24 06:41:51 -0800 #

well. You’ve hit my hot button.
There are people who are allergic to generic drugs Not the active ingredient but the binders dye, glycerin, etc.
So are you going to stop counting pills and make up generics yourself?

Comment by Kay Geers on 2007-02-24 08:23:29 -0800 #

I have the same hatred(?). When I started working after school, I worked in a store with a drive=thru (another hate).
Old ladies in cadillacs with fresh face lifts and diamonds all over their fingers would go thru the drive thru again if I didn’t give them their $1 senior discount. Where’s John Stossel?

Comment by Mad_Doctor on 2007-02-24 08:55:49 -0800 #

did you ever stop to think about the patients who have trouble with certain generics? Please don’t give that crap about how all generics are the same as brand name. We in the medical community know that some generics don’t work as well. It’s a good thing you aren’t running the world because if you were someone would have already shot you.

Comment by Hope on 2007-02-24 14:34:08 -0800 #

You know, I was reading a trade magazine that pointed out something really important to me about nursing home residents. The writer said, basically, that if that resident was a boneheaded jerk when they were younger, it was wrong of us to expect some miraculous change for the better just because said bonehead was now ‘aged to perfection.’

Comment by Leslie on 2007-02-25 13:24:27 -0800 #

My new employer has Humana (I solomnly swear I haven’t got a prescription but then again I’m one of the young ones) but it explains a lot. I wondered where they were cutting their costs to makes premiums so cheap.
“Hell, I think laws shouldn’t apply to someone in their 80’s. They can get life in prison for shoplifting a 40oz of Mickeys! If they want to do lines off coke off of the thighs of a 13 year old Thai hooker more power to them!”
Heh so true!

Comment by A Bohemian Road Nurse on 2007-02-25 15:33:48 -0800 #

I hate to tell you this but most “old people” I see (as a home health RN) haven’t got the faintest idea what constitutes Plan A,B,C or XYZ, whatever–nor do they know which meds are generics and which are more expensive brand names. They just follow what their doctors tell them to do like lambs to the slaughter. Also, some of them try desperately to save money but the rules of their stupid mail-order companies make things so difficult for them in regards to new Rn’x or changed dosages that it becomes an exercise in futility. (I once had a mail-order pharmacist be rude to me and tell me “he doesn’t talk to road nurses” when I tried to help–fuck him, I helped the patients change mail-order Rx companies.) When the new Medicare plans went into effect, in our town it took every single pharmacy assigning a designated “explainer person” for weeks and weeks to explain to all the confused patients how to sign up for those various Medicare Plans—and most STILL don’t understand it all. It’s not that they don’t care about saving money, it’s that they don’t have any idea what’s going on, comprende? Sheesh. One more reason we need a universal health plan—so we’re all on the same dang page…

Comment by Jen on 2007-03-05 20:43:07 -0800 #

EXACTLY!!!I’ve been railing about senior discounts for years! What if a retailer gave a “caucasian discount” Shit would seriously hit the fan..why is it OK to benefit old people at the expense of everybody else.
It still pisses me off that the old people can ride the bus for a quarter when teens and children have to pay $.75. Statistically kids are more likely to live in poverty than seniors, and many of them don’t have school bus service so rely on public transport, yet we make them pay more for necessary bus trips than we do for seniors who plant their asses on the bus for free while those who pay full fare have to give up their seats for the freeloaders.

Comment by beebop on 2007-03-15 20:43:28 -0700 #

Great comments on the people/entitlement aspect.I am an insurance agent and I’ve dealt with them all,many in there own homes.I have always tried to be gracious and usually am,but sometimes you do get very perturbed with difficult individuals.I always try to remember that they’re the ones who pay me.Also,Humana has one of the best PDP and PFFS plans available to the consumer thats why many have it.It’s free market enterprise.The best product sells.If you want to blame anyone blame the govt.they set it up to save money.It may not be fair,but is life?

Comment by Mike Land on 2007-10-17 18:19:57 -0700 #

I always here the frequent complaint about “Fixed Income” individuals. They say they cant afford any price increases. I would say that 99.9 percent of retired people live 100 percent better than I. My wage hasn’t kept up with inflation. I’m one of the few people who like my job and do things to make it work. But I must confess that I live paycheck to paycheck. I have a zero based monthly budget. I could sure use a few discounts. How about a poverty discount? Lately I’m getting some joy out of watching the new reports of seniors fighting over handicap spots in towns like Myrtle Beach. I think its a hoot! I mean its like when you reach 65 you automatically get a handicap permit sent that last for life. When my grandmother was alive I would never let her use it. I think if the driver is in good health, they should be banned. It should only be used by people in wheel chairs who are driving. Elsewise that fit driver can give you curb service coming and going! No need ruin an excercise opportunity for everyone else in the car.

Comment by cardsfanbj on 2010-10-22 07:46:16 -0700 #

TriCare, the insurance that the men & women who serve in our military earn, pays for absolutely no brand name medication, except for what doesn’t have a generic or for Adderall/Oxycontin. (On base, they get brand name Adderall for cheaper than the generic, but it’s still a $9 copay off base. Though, honestly, I’m not sure why you’d need brand name of either. They don’t even pay for brand name Synthroid/Cytomel)
I see plenty of brand name shit Missouri Medicaid pays for that private insurance doesn’t cover without a pa, and even then goes through with an insane copay, then the patient bitches because Medicaid has a $1 copay…
Medicare should operate more like TriCare: eligibility requires some form of government service (nothing high priority, just something like paper filing or highway maintenance/cleanup

Comment by Matt on 2010-11-13 16:21:22 -0800 #

I love when “elderly” people want a discount. My common reaction is to say, “I’m sorry, but we don’t discriminate here against young people.”